Spring!

As soon as the calendar flipped over from February to March, it seems like we changed overnight from winter to spring. The rain stopped (temporarily), the sun came out, and flowers started blooming, seemingly overnight.

The Honey Bees Love Our Crocuses

To take advantage of the gorgeous weather on the first Monday in March after unending weeks of rain, Ann and I decided to change up our walk routine and go over to Miller Woods, a local park, to do the 5-mile loop hike there, rather than continue to pound the sidewalks near our house. Given the incessant rain (we got soaked on four of five walks prior), the ground was terribly soggy and muddy, but still, our moods were high because of the bright sun.

Usually, we see a lot more wildlife on our hikes at Miller Woods, but then, we're usually there early in the day. This time, it was high noon when we arrived. Great for the sun, but nap time for most animals. In stepping off the trail for a second, Ann got a real scolding from a Douglas' Squirrel about 6 feet above her head. We also saw a Black Tail doe and her fawn grazing on the high ground at the north of the park. Generally, we see a lot of birds at Miller Woods, but at noon, not much was moving except for hundreds of robins working the edges of the woods and pastures.

Small Black Tail Doe

Shiny Geranium, Geranium lucidum 

Plants are just starting to sprout, including thousands and thousands of the highly invasive Shiny Geraniums that have really taken over our part of the valley (these tap-rooted beastlets are the single largest pain-in-the-ass weed that I have at home). Despite that, we thought this hollow log rimmed in shelf lichens with geraniums sprouting in the hollow was pretty neat. Indian plums are not yet in bloom but the skunk cabbage is up and just starting to show off its large yellow blooms.

Two Dogs Taphouse

After our invigorating walk and it being a low-traffic time of day and day of week, we decided to go grab a beer, now that inside seating is allowed in restaurants and it being just a wee bit chilly to sit outside. We drove right downtown to check out the new Two Dogs Taphouse. They've done a marvelous job in restoring the old hardware store. We felt safe enough being seated a long way from the nearest other table.

A Pair of Hazies

Burger and Fries

This was a pretty momentous occasion: our first outing for food and beverage since the late summer. We've been salivating for an opportunity to get out and get back to some semblance of normal. I can't really express how badly we've been itching for a burger and a beer, but I imagine that most people reading this who have gone through COVID can relate.

Oddly enough, even though the beers were great and the burger and fries were really well done, it didn't do it for us. Two things are at play, I believe. First, even though we were not at home, we were not really able to socialize and that diminished the occasion for us. Second, as we near 65 pounds lost since the late fall, our palates have been accustomed to really good food and as much as we thought we wanted a burger and fries, they did not resonate with our palates. By contrast, the vegetable tacos that I made at home the following night were awesome and fulfilled us in a way that the burger did not. How odd. Go figure.

Excited for our First Beer Outing in 7 Months!

Annie Mugging!

It's been a long winter and while we have many weeks of rain left before the dry season kicks in, it sure has been nice to feel the season start to turn to spring!